Old mall in Temple

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Looking online, I found that before Temple Mall opened, there was another mall on I-35 near exit 299 (Dodgen Loop). From what I can tell, it's called Outdoor America Mall now, and it has RoomStore and a now closed RV dealer. I can't find a shred of information about it online, though, and would like to know its history. What anchor stores did it have, first of all? They almost look like maybe Woolco and a supermarket.

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Looking online, I found that before Temple Mall opened, there was another mall on I-35 near exit 299 (Dodgen Loop). From what I can tell, it's called Outdoor America Mall now, and it has RoomStore and a now closed RV dealer. I can't find a shred of information about it online, though, and would like to know its history. What anchor stores did it have, first of all? They almost look like maybe Woolco and a supermarket.

I can probably answer some questions about Outdoor America Mall. My question is simple..Why the interest from someone in MI?

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Yes this is two year old thread but I just joined and I'm from Temple.

Town and Country Mall was the name of that shopping center when it first opened. It basically died when the Temple Mall opened in 1976. Woolco was located where The Room Store furniture is now and the other end that was the closed Ancira RV was originally a Montgomery Wards. Inside some of the stores were Beall's, Barry's (another clothing store) Luby's cafeteria, Orange Julius, and a barber shop. I was about 15 when the Temple Mall opened so at that age you don't really concern yourself with trying to remember store names.

Some of the stores like Beall's and Barry's moved immediately to the Temple mall when it opened. Others hung on for a while but the one way frontage road which was always a pain even when Town and Country was full really hurt the stores that tried to keep going when it was half empty.

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You all may be surprised that this mall has redeveloped now (as of December 2015) and has a movie theater as well as some other new stores. The parking area has gotten interior landscaping, and it generally looks way better than it used to.